Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (Sept. 21, 2015) – The Rutgers University-Camden men's soccer team spent a good portion of its evening here Monday dominating action against conference rival New Jersey City University with nothing to show for its efforts on the scoreboard.
 
Suddenly, midway through the second half, it was the Gothic Knights who took advantage of one of their rare opportunities to take the lead.
 
Rutgers-Camden, however, rallied from that one-goal deficit and scored three times in the final 16 minutes to defeat NJCU, 3-1, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference battle.
 
Rutgers-Camden improves to 6-1-1 overall and 2-0 in the NJAC, running its unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1). New Jersey City falls to 1-7 overall and 0-1 in the conference with its fifth straight loss. The Raptors have now gone 9-0-4 in their last 13 meetings against the Gothic Knights, dating back to the last NJCU series victory in 2005. Rutgers-Camden leads the all-time series, 23-8-8.
 
Although the Raptors held a 13-2 advantage in shots during the first half, most of the shots were off-target, forcing Gothic Knight freshman goalie Anthony Moyano (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County Tech) to make only four saves. His best stop came on a point-blank shot from Raptor senior Mike Ryan (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) midway through the half.
 
The Scarlet Raptors, who were called for offsides nine times, had a goal disallowed on one of those calls early in the second half. Then, at the 63:11 mark, NJCU put the first goal on the scoreboard. Junior back Davauni Brown (Newark, NJ/Newark Tech) hit a long restart on goal, which was saved on a diving catch by Raptor freshman keeper James Brett (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra). The ball squirted loose in the box on contact with the ground, however, and settled near the right post, where sophomore Mohamed Elamin (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) tapped in his first goal of the season.
 
The Scarlet Raptors' pressure finally paid off at 74:08 when Ryan finished a chip into the box by freshman Vincenzo Masitti (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee). It was the team-leading seventh goal of the season for Ryan.
 
A little over five minutes later, the Raptors took the lead for good after some nifty work in the right corner by junior Juan Rojas (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway), who sent a cross into the box that was finished by senior Connor Hurff (Sewell, NJ/St. Augustine Prep). It was Hurff's sixth goal of the season and increased his team-leading totals to three game-winning goals and 19 points.
 
With 1:05 remaining, Brett launched a booming punt from his box. Sophomore Brad Maine (Cherry Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) ran onto the punt near the NJCU box and finished off the Scarlet Raptors' final goal, his first of the year. The assist was Brett's first collegiate point.
 
With the victory, Rutgers-Camden raised its home record to an amazing 51-3-3 dating back to the 2011 season. Counting the last four home games in 2010, all wins, the Raptors are 55-3-3 at Rutgers-Camden Community Park since that time.
 
Rutgers-Camden finished with a 22-7 advantage in shots and a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. Brett made two saves for the Scarlet Raptors, while Moyano had six for the Gothic Knights.
 
Both teams return to action with Wednesday home games. NJCU hosts Montclair State University in a 3 p.m. NJAC contest. Rutgers-Camden entertains Misericordia University in a 7 p.m. non-conference game.